Within the Mousterian record of western Europe, we have evidence for usage of black pigment made from MnO2 by Neandertals (50 000 years old at Pech-de-l'Azé I for instance). I've been using the analogy with the ethnographic record as well as some preliminary experiments to argue that they might have been used as dye stuff/stain (see Soressi et D'Errico, 2007 as well as Soressi et al 2008). Would anybody know of usage of MnO2 pigment for other purposes than body decoration/symbolic purposes?
Dear Marie
I have been studied the medical and cosmetical uses of various minerals (see my papers on academia.edu) .
For the MnO2 (pyrolusite, ) I documented rather accidential use of it.
The by-product of the cave art was probably the intoxication and altered states of consciousness due to inhalation of MnO2 in suspension (the MnO2 is the only mineral that causes this kind of biological reaction - see works of M. Lorblanchet (e.g. 1995 Les grottes ornees de la prehistoire) and various works on intoxication in the manganeese mines in 19th and 20th centuries, e.g. Hine, Ch. H. & A. Pasi. 1975. Manganese intoxication. Western Journal of Medicine 123(2): 101-107; Dietz, M. C., A. Ihrig, W. Wrazidlo, M. Bader, O. Jansen & G. Triebig. 2001. Results of magnetic resonance imaging in long-term manganese dioxide-exposed workers. Environmental Research 85: 37-40; and some Polish if you want :)
Another use (external) is for antiseptic reasons - it is the mineral of negligible toxicity for humans.
From Neolithic pyrolusite (in various minerlogical forms) was used for pottery and angoba decoration.
Iternal use of MnO2 in the treatment of anemia was discredited at the beginning of 20th century and even claimed as dangerous due to iron absorbtion disorder caused by it.
In 20th century for steel production, as pigments, in pils technology.
Sincerely
Michal Wasilewski PhD
PS. I will be delighted for any articles or informations on medical uses of any minerals.
Hi Marie, I also think that Manganese was used in the cave-rock drawings. Much later it could have been used in producing the black color in Athienian Black- and Red-Figured pottery of the 4-3rd c. BC. A female Greek ceramist , I think, published this in the magazine archaeometry, if my memory is still OK.
I recommend reading:
Mandl 1961 Collagenases and Elastases. Advances in Enzymology 23 164-264
Velo 1984 Ochre as a Medicine: a Suggestion for the Interpretation of the Archaeological Record, Current Anthropology 25(5)674.
much work has recently been done documenting the functional use of of minerals in the "ochre" family, ie any of those containing iron oxide or iron hydroxide such as hematite, goethite, and liminonites.
Hello, one of my collaborator did combustion experiments and thermo-gravimetric measurements, and found out that MnO2 reduces wood's auti-ignition temperature and substantially increases the rate of char combustion. In practice, MnO2 powder substantially make fire making easier. See Heyes et al. publication in Scientific Reports (available on my profile). Given that MnO2 blocs had been reduced into powder at the Neandertal site of Pech-de-l'Azé I, and that there are several fire-places at the site, we argue that this may be indirect evidence for usage of MnO2 powder in fire making by Neandertals.
Hello, in Kapova cave with wall paintings (the Southern Urals) we have a pyrolusite in the Upper Paleolithic cultural layer. But there are no traces of its use. And the few black wall paintings made with charcoal (at the same time). In Kostenki 1/1 (gravettian) there are traces similar to those described in the above article (this information from colleagues from St. Petersburg).
Excellent research! Besides its use as a paint from 100 ka and as an ingredient in hafting mastics from 75 ka, red ochre has been shown to have remarkable insect repellency, sun protection (SPF) and preservative (leather) properties.
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